Pedestrians and bikers in Oak Park might soon feel safer traveling through local streets as the village board appears poised to implement a Vision Zero master plan.
Vision Zero is “the commitment to eliminating death and serious injury from traffic crashes.” The plan has strong community support, with 16 residents, including young schoolchildren, urging the village board to pass and implement Vision Zero during its Tuesday night meeting.
“When I was 5, a car was going super fast,” said Helene Farley, an 8-year-old Oak Park resident. “The driver had a red light. I was in the crosswalk. Then the car crossed in front of me … the car slammed into me. I want [the streets] to be safe for me and all kids.”
She was one of seven children to speak to the board Tuesday.
And kids aren’t the only ones affected. Individuals with disabilities, senior citizens and other vulnerable populations are, too, along with anyone walking and biking in Oak Park.
The board has not yet taken an official vote on the consultant’s plan but is expected to in February. All board members present Tuesday expressed their support for Vision Zero.
What is Vision Zero?
The goal to eliminate traffic-related severe injuries and fatalities and promote a walkable and bikeable Oak Park community is one the village has had its eyes set on for a while.
Oak Park’s goal is to consistently have zero deaths or serious injuries from traffic crashes by 2035, according to the report.
Rather than evaluating problem intersections or streets on an individual basis from resident petitions, Vision Zero will allow village staff to comprehensively implement traffic-calming and protection measures for pedestrians and cyclists.
“Allowing staff to move quickly as situations develop, where we see that there are unsafe conditions at particular intersections … without it necessarily having to come before the board for every particular proposal is vital,” Trustee Brian Straw said.
The plan, a 127-page document, was developed through analysis of crash data, engagement with community members and discussions about potential solutions.
Alex Hanson from Sam Schwartz Engineering, the consultant hired by the village, explained that from 2018 to 2022, there were 132 serious injuries and fatalities in Oak Park. And the average annual number of fatalities from traffic crashes increased over the previous decade.
Compared to drivers, cyclists are 12 times more likely to experience a serious injury or death when involved in an accident. And pedestrians are 15 times more likely, Hanson said.
Around 68% of the time where someone was killed or seriously injured, it was due to the driver failing to yield, disobeying traffic signals or not reducing speed, Hanson added.
And a good number of serious and fatal crashes in Oak Park occur on border streets like North Avenue and Austin Boulevard or on typically busy roads like Madison Street and Chicago Avenue.
The drafted Vision Zero plan includes strategies to achieve Vision Zero goals, designs to improve high-crash locations and ways to measure performance.
Village Engineer Bill McKenna expressed a concern Tuesday about the threatened federal pause in grant dollars affecting some funding for Vision Zero. But the White House reportedly rescinded that decision Wednesday morning.
McKenna also pointed out that while many community members have expressed support for Vision Zero, some might not be happy with the traffic-calming measures that aren’t visually appealing. So, education around Vision Zero goals will be key.
“[For some residents] traffic safety and traffic violence and car speeding is really personal to them, for some it’s not,” he said. “We’re likely to get pushback from the community members.”
Expected changes
Oak Park will first focus on five Vision Zero strategies.
The first strategy is to “establish an ongoing safety improvement program for the High Injury Network,” or areas with a history of serious crashes.
To do this, the village will need to coordinate with partners like the Illinois Department of Transportation to improve intersections not solely under Oak Park’s jurisdiction. The village will also work to upgrade street lighting, especially in areas with notable pedestrian activity.
The second strategy is to “expand on the Residential Traffic Calming Program to create a proactive approach to safety improvements on local streets.”
To reach this goal, the village will work to use “vertical deflection tools” such as speed tables or speed cushions on streets adjacent to schools, parks, transit stations or senior living facilities. These areas were specifically of concern for residents who spoke at the meeting Tuesday.
The third strategy is to “create safe, comfortable, complete networks for people walking and biking.”
For this strategy, Oak Park will update its bike plan, complete the neighborhood greenways system, create a formal crosswalk marking policy, enhance traffic signals and ensure infrastructure is maintained.
The fourth strategy is to “align policies and processes to the Safe System Approach.”
To do this, the village needs to update its “Complete Streets” policy and prioritize the safety of people walking with policies related to signal timing, speed and vehicle control.
The fifth strategy is to “increase targeted traffic safety enforcement efforts.”
For this goal, the village will work on enforcement to stop dangerous driving behaviors, especially in high-risk areas, increase officer training and install red light cameras. The report also suggests having quarterly meetings to assess crash trends and partnering with Cook County and other municipalities to lobby for additional enforcement powers.
For example, Oak Park does not have the authority to implement speed cameras within its borders. By Illinois state law, only municipalities with more than 1 million residents can do so, according to Hanson.
Straw also said he’d like to implement measures to prevent drivers from passing in parking lanes, which can lead to near-misses. That’s possible with curb extensions or pinch points.
Community support
Residents’ top safety concerns, according to Hanson, include speeding and distracted driving, traffic during rush hours and school dismissal, insufficient pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure and bad lighting.
One resident, Michael Ericksen, said he was almost hit by an aggressive driver in broad daylight while in a crosswalk. And it wasn’t the first time.
“When we ask parents to share their close calls, one of the common [remarks] was ‘Just one?’” he said. “One argument that’s frequently made against improving pedestrian and bike infrastructure is that not everyone can ride a bike. And while that’s certainly true, it’s also true that not everyone can drive a car.”
Lindsay Hagy, also an Oak Park resident, said her daughter, Daphne, was hit by a car last fall and broke her arm. The current police protocol requires the officer to put someone at fault in the report, she said. And Daphne added that a police officer told her the accident was her fault, while she was in the emergency room.
“I agree that the driver did a good job [when] everything happened … [but] it’s hard to hear that you need to give your homeowner’s insurance to pay for the damage to somebody’s car from your 11-year-old child’s body,” Hagy said.
Carolyn Sarnecki, on behalf of Longfellow’s PTO, said parents of these elementary school students have made multiple requests for improved safety on crosswalks. Crossing guards are great, but many students don’t use those specific intersections or cross when guards aren’t present, she said.
“The very fact that kids are smaller means they are naturally going to be less visible, so we need the extra infrastructure,” she said. “We urge the village board to proceed with Vision Zero so we can tell our students, our youngest citizens, that they are just as important as anyone else.”
Numerous other stories like theirs were shared Tuesday. Even Village President Vicki Scaman recounted her experience in a traffic crash in Oak Park.
“Any one of these stories is one story too many,” Rachel Poretsky said. “We need to fully commit to Vision Zero.”
“A plan is merely an empty promise without the execution of its components,” Jenna Holzberg said.
“Do we want zero deaths or not?” Karl Lauger asked.
Scaman agreed with them.
“This is not going to be a plan that goes on the shelf and collects dust the way that we sometimes can see in government,” she said.
The board is expected to approve the Vision Zero plan and greenlight implementation in February.